Talk:Peter McWilliams/Archive 1

Untitled
This article was recently the victim of severe vandalism and has had to go under extensive revision to reclaim its previous level of information. Please contribute to this article as best you can. Kakashi-sensei 00:01, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)

This article needs more work on both quality and removal of non-NPOV material and phrasing. I've done some, and will be back for another pass later, but multiple editors can hopefully do some more work. I think the material on McWilliams's legal troubles and death is relevant, but takes up too much of the article at this point. Do others agree? Dayv 19:27, 11 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Dayv, it could be said (and has), that his legal troubles shortened his life, or at least was related to his death. Count me as a vote to keep them in, as they are relevant to the discussion of his death.  &mdash; Xoder|&#9990; 16:52, August 3, 2005 (UTC)

It might be beneficial to this article to include a link (at the end?0 to this cartoon: http://www.scottbieser.com/mcwilliams.html (it summarizes the view of a lot of people re. the issues McWilliams was involved in).

Missing facts
I read this article and it is missing two things that I wonder about: Did he use marijuana before he was diagnosed with cancer? Is it a fact that marijuana was the only thing that controlled his symptoms? The article implies that he never considered marijuana until he had cancer and that there was absolutely no alternative to using marijuana. My feeling is that he did use marijuana long before he had cancer and that he simply opted for marijuana over other (likely more costly) medications. By implying falsehoods, the message of the article appears to me to be tainted. --Kainaw (talk) 16:13, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
 * He said repeatedly that smoking marijuana controlled his nausea, and that Marinol (synthetic THC) pills did not.


 * Given that he died due to a failure of the Marinol to keep him from vomiting, it seems to me he was telling the truth.


 * Davidkevin 19:23, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

wikiquote
This article features many quotes, perhaps they should be moved to wikiquote? Mathiastck 00:16, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Although I support it, the article is VERY pro-cannabis. People....this is Wikipedia; some parts need to be completely rewritten. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.251.80.150 (talk) 23:15, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

More Missing Facts
When you read this article and information on McWilliams found elsewhere on The Net, you tend to think the most important thing he ever did was his work as a Marijuana activist. Not so by a long shot!

The Life 101 Series, The Personal Computer Book, and The Word Processing Book, were all titles we carried and displayed prominently at the B. Dalton Bookseller where I worked. The level of their success was unprecedented by a self publisher (at the time I thought Prelude was a general marketing publisher).

McWilliams’ The Word Processing Book and The Personal Computer Book were the first popular books at the beginning of the “Computer Revolution”. They were written for the “non-techie” about computers. As such, McWilliams was the “Right Man” at the “Right Time” with the “Right Message”. He presented his points with clarity and humor. It was a cause he happily championed. I remember seeing him being interviewed by Diane Sawyer, when she was on the CBS “Morning Show” (before she went to ABC’s “Good Morning America”). He talked eloquently about the personal computer, not marijuana.

The Thesis of his each texts was simple and straightforward. For example, he encouraged his readers in The Word Processing Book to not buy a dedicated word processor but to buy a computer instead, as the early PCs did everything a word processor could  do along with some neat other things (remember, this was 1991!).

The Personal Computer Book gave his readers a simple and entertaining overview of the computer and encouraged everyone to join in the revolution. It’s no surprise that in 1992, Time Magazine named the Personal Computer, “Time Magazine Machine of the Year” instead of the traditional “Man of the Year”.

His work made computers understandable and less scary and even fascinating. I can honestly say his work was the primordial reason I shifted carrier paths from journalist to Educational Technologist, where I stand today. Regardless of your political beliefs, to list his activism for legal medical marijuana in such a way that it overshadows his contribution on behalf of the way our society uses computers does a disservice to the man and his memory.

-Eli C. Walker, M. Ed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Eli 57 (talk • contribs) 21:31, 30 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Another area of missing facts, perhaps: I wonder if Peter continued to be involved with the TM movement (into the 1980s and beyond).  He was such a spokesperson, in print, for that movement in the 1970s.Joel Russ (talk) 15:16, 15 June 2012 (UTC)

No he did not stick with the TM movement. He joined MSIA (the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness), which is where I met him, in the 1980s. He and I both left this cult in the early 1990s. He wrote an expose regarding MSIA and its leader Roger Hinkins (aka "J-R"), for which he was sued (and lost... the book is no longer in print due to the lawsuit). --Victoria IvyRabbit (talk) 18:24, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Yes, there was a lot more to Peter's life, including his spiritual studies (yes, besides MSIA, he was into TM at one time), philanthropy, syndicated newspaper column, poetry, photography, computer books, self-help books, influence on Oprah (creation of her book club), anti-antidepressant work, etc., etc., etc. I was a personal friend of Peter's (he called me one of his only three true friends at one time). I'll try to get back and round out some information as I can, the challenge is to cite references and not just speak from personal experience. There's too much opinion here, no doubt. A fact I find interesting as Peter himself was lousy at citing his work. When we started working on the "Aint" book, I asked him about footnotes and a bibliography, to which he responded, "Oh, it's not going to be THAT kind of book." --Victoria IvyRabbit (talk) 18:24, 21 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Hi I'm happy to see some editors participating in this article. At the same time please keep in mind that this talk page is not a forum for general discussions about the topic. This would be better suited for an editor's personal talk page. On this page we try to keep the discussion to specific content in the article and how it can be improved. Best wishes,-- — Keithbob • Talk  • 19:44, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

present day influence
I removed the reference to there being many web sites ("affectionately known as Peter's Pages") in 2010, ten years after his death. It was vague, outdated, and emotionally slanted. If you want to say something about this, keep it up to date, cite it, and lose the "affectionately known as" (known as by whom?) --Victoria IvyRabbit (talk) 18:30, 21 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Good edit -- — Keithbob • Talk  • 19:44, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Parking quotes here

 * "Marijuana is the finest anti-nausea medication known to science." – 1998 Libertarian Party National Convention
 * "Within seconds of the first toke, the nausea was gone, vanished with the smoke into the air." – A Question of Compassion
 * "The Drug War is another Viet Nam." – The DEA Wishes Me a Nice Day
 * "Do we indulge our heart, or cater to our fear?" --DO IT! Let's Get Off Our Buts
 * "To avoid situations in which you might make mistakes may be the biggest mistake of all." – Life 101
 * "Life is not a struggle, it's a wiggle." – How to Survive the Loss of a Love
 * "Goals come and go, Dreams fade, but these qualities travel with us wherever we go." – Do It: Lets Get Off Our Buts
 * "Fear is something to be moved through, not something to be turned from." – You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought
 * "To the degree we're not living our dreams, our comfort zone has more control over us than we have over ourselves." --Do It: Let's Get Off Our Buts
 * "Enjoy" --His signature inscription for book autographs
 * The above quotes have been removed because they are: a) unsourced  b) belong at WikiQuote not here c) one or two could, maybe go in the article but they should be reliably sourced and relevant to, and merged with, existing sourced text.-- — Keithbob •  Talk  • 19:35, 24 December 2012 (UTC)